Mohammed Siraj seems to be at his fiery best against Afghanistan. After crossing paths with Afghanistan’s Rahmat Shah earlier on Day 3, the legendary Indian speedster has now entangled with visiting number three Rahmanullah Gurbaz. During the 16th over of the second Afghanistan innings, Siraj had a tense exchange with Gurbaz after the latter had pulled out of his stride while pointing at a “fly in his eyes”.

Mohammed Siraj takes on Rahmanullah Gurbaz
While bowling the 16th over of the second Afghanistan innings on Day 3 in New Chandigarh, Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was forced to back out from his run-up after right-handed batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz pulled out of his stride.

Even though Gurbaz pointed out a “fly in his eye” as the reason behind his late pullout, Siraj was not in the mood to let it slide and immediately confronted the Afghan batter. The incident even led to a brief, heated exchange between the two cricketers.

Siraj vs Rahmat Shah makes headlines on Day 3
Earlier in the day, Mohammed Siraj was also involved in a tense exchange with Afghanistan’s number four, Rahmat Shah. The incident occurred during the 53rd over of the first Afghanistan innings in the opening session of the day. As it happened, the speedster seemingly provoked Rahmat Shah to hit him for a boundary, and even threatened to throw the ball towards the unbeaten batter.

Afghanistan falls short by 412 runs, asked to follow on
Resuming the innings at 113-5 on Day 3, Afghanistan bundled out for just 152 in 58.4 overs. Rahmat Shah punched out a fighting 60 from 135 balls to record the lone half-century of the first Afghanistan innings. For India, debutant Manav Suthar picked up six wickets in his debut Test to claim sensational figures of 6-33 from his 20 overs. Prasidh Krishna also chipped in with three wickets, while senior paceman Mohammed Siraj went wicketless in the innings. Afghanistan’s collapse ensured that Team India gained a monumental 412-run lead at the halfway stage of the match. Home captain Shubman Gill also asked the visitors to follow on.

India is on top after Shubman Gill and KL Rahul's centuries
Team India started off the match by mounting 564-8d in 127 overs. Prolific opener KL Rahul and captain Shubman Gill both plundered regal centuries in the innings, with the latter of the two top-scoring with 126 from 177 balls. Sai Sudharsan at number three carved out 81 runs from 104 balls, and belligerent wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant also made a swift 121-ball 81. Washington Sundar scored a fiery half-century to reach 52 off 68 balls.

For Afghanistan, Mohammad Saleem picked up six wickets in the high-scoring innings to claim industrious figures of 6-140. After gaining a huge 412-run lead by shooting out Afghanistan for just 152, Indian bowlers dismissed four of Afghanistan’s top five batters for just 93 on Day 3. Mohammed Siraj trapped opener Abdul Malik in front, before spinners Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav steamrolled the visitors.